Printing telegraph apparatus



Patented Jan. 25, 1944 UNH-ED; STAT-gs parte EEN-i5#ore-ren 'Ross A..ak'e`, Oak Park, IIL-,assigner to Tele.-v type Corporation,..Chiea`go,lll., a vcorporation ofI Delaware. f

` Application November, 1941, Serial 4 2 Q`,870 161C1aims. (c1.isn-'1.1)

This.. invention. relates..tg printing telegraph the type with whichthe.y prsent. invention is.

concerned. ish shown fin .atent o. Ross A. Lake, Septembe 1 'f.1 6,-1941.

In. prior shifting mechanisms, it had been the practice, as. inthe Lakepatent.referredftoabove, to. employ. a tensioned sprrilgflorl shiftingthe platen from oneof its case positions4 to thefother and to reset the`springs While shifting. the .platen to its other case position.` ThisVlatter'shifting operation was. accomplished through.. a. linlage systemon the Workingstrke oi'the'b'ail plunger during the printingoperationand it reduced the effectiveness of. the.4 bail plunger` spring for Itheachievement of its. function of operating .the type barsi Theoperationofgthmbail plunger `and the selection of thepullbar'slisshownin. detail in which will assure that the platen. ispositively shifted toboth itsupperandlovver case. positions.

Another object of= this invention istoassure that the Vplaten carriage.assumes. its. case-v posi? tions when shifted prior to the impingen'rentof the typehelupon the. P31261? A. .furtllerY object ofthe invention is..to .pr ovide means whereby the. platen. shifts. to itsprpper pagina Sethat a.- fvll- Printing' impresseewll be printed-oath@ .taeg-.Another-Qbject of.v that present inventilorrdsjto provide..reset.means-.0.11VA a hatching; lever o f a shifting.. mechanism.whereby minimum placed cn the lettersfpulibarwheni to shif t the.platen..

In` the. following'fdescription, the use or.. rearf or. letters positionof the platen..des ignates,the lower case'. positionL Whereas, the. useof.` .frontf on figures position designates. the. upper, Cesepositionofgthefplaterlf In. `carry-ing Qutgthe,l present!4 invention,pro= vision., is. made. for shifting the.A platen f rpnrits rear orletters( position.v to its irorrig; or:x ignres position. by placing.Athe.. platen. ca afrriage; onder theltensien Qffaspring. One-.endetvlhih.' nested-1 to the platen. Carriage. and' tha-ether. @ed

of which is connected to an arm of a U-shaped lever?. The..uw-sl'iaped..lever by. means, ofanother spring, S-'aiSAtlhpl werdt().Shift` the .pllQIica-.I'- riage ..to 'itsfr rv position.` An; extensionon. the bail loll'ingflzr sets the..r U-'shaped'lleverwhen thepllln-ger.makes. tadovvnW/rfd. brfidlefstroke by rneans.. ofatedeverfwhich.engages ag'dependingf portion.. of vthe..`l.l.s,h`a1c',e'd lever. There. is` also lernployed a latching. lever in con-`junction! with the f UshapedffleverI operable by the lettrapullbar.t).,release the .Ufshape'd lever andfto -allow it to .pivotrearwardlyv under the inueiceof a(spring.llithereby drive the platencarriage tolits. rearorflettem position. It can be seen .thatfby;. the."present invention. twoindependently actingjspringsf'are employed toprovide.. the. power. .for .the shifting operations.

. When the bailplunger. is' in its. lower position, its. extension.rests von theintermediate tlever and holds the Ugshape'dlvenintits'vforward position so thatin order .t'o`unlatchffthe(Jr-shaped. lever, thev bail plungerniu'stfriselsp that its extensionis,{re moved fronrfthefpathQofthe rear arm ofthe intermediate levenorder that the. U-.shaped lever 'can` Ipivot towards the; rear...u'nderthe iniluence.A of thefwspring. and;the' letters. p ull bar must,subsequently operate", to. trip its. latching lever. vvhichfisfin."engagenentftvith the. U-shaped lever K Inf operation., thev bail.plunger moves approximately` one thrdoflits, upwards'troke before thebail *engages` a.pull bar sothat bythe time the letters pull bar isactuatedlthaextension of the bail` plunger has fmoved .l clear.. of. theintermediate lever land. the. Llfshapd. lever. is free to pivotrearwardly under.` theinuence of the spring if the. letters pullfbarfis'actuated t-o'release the latchingleverofthe vU- sr1apeCllever.`

inl should beipar'nularly noticed that the lresettingor the.U-'shaped'leventalrespl'ace Qn the downward or idle. stroke .of-theibail plungerl vvhile in.: prevousg shitting niet:anisliisjheletters .pull bar .operatedfon the; vvorlging; or, lrp'tvardNstroke of the bail plunger'to move Athe platen'carriage to. its rear.position against. the. inlluencef of the Spring;- Asprvieufslyieleirid,.'ffislldfen nndesifable.y load upon.thejbailplun'ger spring. Inasrnuch. as the id le..stro1 ;e .of the balplunger iemwfvsed. t0 reset, fh? JL-Shaped lve?. 'themedplesdupOn-.the worknefstrekefthe bail .plunger' is kept to a minimuinlAs shownin the Mor.-

ton et al. patent alreadyyreierredftog` the bail plunger omits..dpwnwardeorfidle-trks is.. Oper.- a'ted bv.- menne @.f.- ttegc. me themaler driving'. Shaft; and.- thus; the mele. dei. is.; rifwf used. to

` its upward stroke.

obtain power for the resetting operation whereas in previous practicethe upward or working stroke was employed and thus detracted from thepower of the spring which operates the bail plunger in It thereforereadily appears that the letters pull bar, as used in the presentinvention, in addition to operating its type lever merely acts to tripalatchinglever `and places little additional load upon the bail plungerin its upward stroke.

going objects and features of the invention may be had from thefollowing description when taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawing, wherein, Fig. 1 is a plan view of mechanism with portionsbroken away in order more clearly to disclose the apparatus;

Fig'. 2 is a front elevation of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a side elevationof the shifting mechanism. l e Y y l o Referring to the drawing, asuitable base for the platen carriage is shown at 4.' Mounted thereonisa frame which has disposed between its front and rear portions aplurality of rods 6 upon which is slidably mounted Vthe platen carriage1 upon which is carried a platen 8. Attached to the rear of the platencarriage at 8 is a spring I8, the othervend of which is attached to armIIof a U-shaped lever I2. When the platen carriage is in its rearposition, notched portion I3 (Fig. 2) ofthe vertically extending rearmember I4 of the platen carriage ls latched up in notch I5 of a rockablelatching lever I8 mounted on a pivot I1 and urged to rotate in aclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2, by means of aspring I8. Thelatching lever I6 has positioned thereunder at its right end, as viewedin Fig. 2, a `hooked portion I8 of pull bar 20. Pull bar 212| is thefigures pull bar and is movedupwardly by the printing bail when it isselected by the code bars 2 I. underthe control of a selector magnet 2,and trips the latching lever I6 by rotating it in 1a counterclockwiseydirection to thereby disengage its notched portion I5 from notchedportion I3 of the vertically extending memberl I4 andallow the platencarriage to slide on the rods E to its front or figures position underthe infiuence of the spring Ill which then retracts. Thefrontwardmovement of the platen carriage is limited by an adjustable screw 22mounted on the front vertical member 23 of the platen carriage frame 5.

At the left side of the apparatus, as viewed in Fig. 2, is mounted themechanism for shifting the carriage from its front or figures positionto its rear or letters position. Suitably mounted on pivot 24 (Fig. 3)is the U-shaped lever ,I2 having upwardly extending arms Il and 2 5, afrontwardly depending arm 26 and also a rearwardly extending arm 21'.`The U-shaped lever I2 'is biased to its counterclockwise position bymeans of a spring 2 8 which is extended from a frame 28 toarm25.' v K *AWhen U-shaped lever I2 tilts to its rearward or counterclockwiseposition under the influence of spring 281, projecting portion 30, ofarm IIof the U-shaped lever, engages the adjustable leg 3| mounted atthe top of the platen carriage and thus' drives the platen carriage toits rearward position on rods 6.

At the rear of U-shaped lever I2 is an intermediate lever 32, pivoted'onshaft 33 which is mounted on frame 29, and having its'fro'nt end' 34 inabutting engagement with the rearwardly the platenl shifting extendingarm 21 of the U-shaped lever I2. At the rear end of the intermediatelever 32 is mounted an adjustable screw 35 which is in abuttingengagement with the extension 36 of bail plunger 31. The bail plunger31, as shown in Fig. 3, is in its lower position which it assumes afterit has completed its downward or idle stroke. At the left side of thelU-shaped lever I2, as viewed in Fig. 2, is mounted a latching lever 38pivoted on shaft 39 and normally urged to rotate in a counterclockwisedirection by means of a spring 40. When the U-shaped lever I2 is in itsclockwise position (as shown in Fig. 3) the end portion of arm 4Iof-latching lever 38 is in enthe letters'pull bar 43 will vbe referredto.

In operation, when the bail plunger 31 moves upwardly, it removes itsextension 36 from contact with the adjustable screw 35 of the inter 7mediate lever 32 which then becomes free to rotate and 'therefore toremove its' arm 34 from blocking engagement with' arm 21 of the U-shapedlever I2. The bail plunger 31 moves approximately one third of itsupward stroke before the bail engages the selected pull bar so that bythe time the letters pull bar 43 is actuated, the front arm 34 of theintermediate lever 32 is no longer in blocking engagement with arm 21 ofthe U- shaped lever I2. As the -pull bar 43 moves upwardly its hookedportion 45 engages the extending portion 46 of latching lever 38. Theengagement of pull bar 43 by means of its hook portion 45 with theextending portion 46 of the latching lever 38, causes the latching lever38 to rotate in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2. The endportion of arm 4I of lever 38 is thus removed from the notch 42 of theU-shaped lever I2 which is therefore free to pivot rearwardly under theinfluence of spring 28. `When this movement occurs, the projectingportion 30 of arm I I of the LJ-shaped lever I2 engages the adjustableleg 3I ofthe platen carriage 1 to drive it to its rear position as shownin dotted lines in Fig. 3, where the notch I3 of the verticallyextending member I4of the carriage latchesin notch I5 of latching leverI8.

The extension 36 ofthe bail'plunger 31 acts tofreset the U-shaped leverI2 to its clockwise position when the bail plunger returns downward onits idle stroke after the platen carriage 'l has been thus shifted tothe rear. As the bai1 'plunger 31 moves'- downwardly, its extension 36again engages the'screw 35 to tilt the intermediate lever 32 in a'counterclockwise direction. This causes the engagement of the arm 34 ofsaid intermediate lever with the arm '21 of the U-shaped lever I2 whichcauses the rotation of said U-shaped lever in a clockwise directionagainst the influence of springs I0 and 28. As theU-shaped lever isrotated to its full clockwise position, its notched portion 42 againlatches up upon the arm 4I of the latching lever 38. To limit therotation of the U-shaped lever I2 in a counterclockwise direction, asviewed in Fig. 3, an adjustable screw is provided which cooperates withthe frontwardly extending arm 26 of the U-shaped lever I2 when saidU-shaped lever rotates in a counterclockwise direction,` as viewed inFig. 3. Thus, it will be observed that when the platen carriage 1 islatched in it\sl rear position by lever I6, the resetting operation ofthe U-shaped lever I2 to its clockwise position (as viewed in Fig. 3)acts to stretch both spring 28 and spring I0, so that spring I0 isdistendeli and is ready for another shifting operation while spring 2Bis also distended and ready for its next shifting operation. It shouldbe remembered that when the platen carriage was shifted to its front orfigures position, spring I became retracted and that during thesubsequent shifting of the platen carriage to its rear or lettersposition, spring 28 operated entirely independent of spring I0.

As shown in Fig. 3, when the U-shaped lever I2 is in its clockwiseposition, a clearance 41 is provided between the projecting portion 30of arm II of said U-shaped lever and the adjustable depending leg 3I ofthev platen carriage frame 1. When the platen carriage 1 is in its rearposition, shown in dotted lines, a similar clearance 48 is provided. Aclearance 60 is also shown between the arm 4I of lever 38 and thenotched portion 42 of arm 25 of U-shaped lever I2. When the platencarriage 'I is in its front position, shown in full lines in Fig. 1, theclearance 41 is provided because while this front position is maintainedduring printing operations, the bail plunger is continually moving upand down, and on its upward strokes its extension exerts no pressure onthe intermediate lever 32 so that there is a tendency of the spring 28to pivot the U-shaped lever I2 rearwardly because when the bail plungerextension 36 rises oi the screw 35 the intermediate lever 32 no longeracts to hold the U-shaped lever I2 in its clockwise position although itmay still be held in this position by means of the engagement of arm 4Iof the intermediate lever 38 with notch 42 of arm 25 of theU-shapedlever. Therefore, if the extending portion 34 of the `U-shaped lever I2was in direct contact with the depending leg 3| without clearance, thetendency of the U-shaped lever to pivot would cause a `vibration of theplaten carriage 1. Now, as the U-shaped lever I2 tends to rockbackwardly, the rocking motion is taken up by the clearance 41 and alsoby the clearance G0 at the notched portion 42 of arm 24 of the U-shapedlever. The clearance Sil is of such dimensions that vnotch 42 of arm 25of the U-shaped lever I2 wil] engage the end portion of arm 4I andresist further tilting movement of the U-shaped lever. ever, theclearance 41 is such that a very slight clearance still remains betweenthe depending leg 3| and the projecting portion 30 of the U-shaped leverl2 so that there is no danger of the projecting portion 3l) striking thecarriage leg 3| and causing a vibration of the platen carriage 1. It canthus be seen that although the bail plunger extension 36 rises above theintermediate lever 32 on each upward stroke, the slight rocking motionis taken care of by the clearances.

One purpose of providing the clearance 43, as shown in the dotted linepositions in Fig. 3, is to allow the platen carriage 1 to travel thelast fraction of its rearward movement under the momentum which wasbuilt up while the projection 30 on arm 25 of the U-shaped lever I2 wasin contact with the leg 3l of the platen carriage 1 and sliding itrearwardly. As the platen carriage 1 approaches `the limit of itsrearward Howmovement, the irontwardly depending arm 26 of. the U-shapedlever I2 engages with the screw mounted on an extension 5I of the platencarriage frame 5, and is thereby prevented from further movement.However, the platen carriage leg 3l is separated from the portion 3@ oithe U-shaped lever I2 so that the platen carriage 1 moves the remainingportion of its backward travel under momentum and is slowed up becauseduringthis last portion of its movement, the platen carriage is notpositively driven. This will insure that the platen carriage 1, throughthe notched portion I 3 of member I4, will immediately latch up on thenotched portion I5 of latching lever I6 when the platen carriage isdriven towards its rear position. In this way, the, overtraveling of theplaten carriage too far past the notch I5 of the latching lever I6, isprevented and the platen carriage, after its rearward movement, willassume its exact printing position. The platen 8, thus, will be in theproper position to receive the impingement of the typing lever whichacts by striking an inking ribbon to print an impression upon a movabletape.

A further advantage of the clearance 48, as shown in the dotted lines inFig. 3 will now be explained. l'f the platen carriage 1 has assumed its.rearward position, it sometimes happens that during the course ofprinting operations pull bars 43 or 44 might be actuated when either theletters combination or the space combination impulses are received.Inasmuch as the platen carriage is already in its rearward position, itis important that the operation of either of these pull bars produces noeffect upon the platen carriage. When either of these pull bars isoperated, as previously explained, U-shaped lever I2 will tilt to itscounterclockwise position and if no clearance were provided at 41 thenthe extension 3G, on the U-shaped lever i2, would push against theadjustable leg 3l of the platen carriage 1 when the U-shaped lever I2moves to its countei-clockwise position. This would cause an undesirablevibration of the platen carriage 1 if clearance 4S was not provided.

By the present invention, therefore, the lletters and figures pull barseach merely act to trip a latch to perform their respective shiftingoperations and the resetting of the springs by means of which the powerfor the shifting operationsL is provided, is accomplished on thedownward or idle stroke of the bail plunger. Thus, little additionalload is placed o-n the operation of the pull bars when they trip theirrespective latching levers. f

As already has been pointed out,'when the bail plunger is making itsdownward or idle stroke, it is receiving its motion from the main driveshaft so that the main drive shaft actually is furnishing the power forthe resetting operation of the U-shaped lever. When the bail plungermoves upwardly, however, it receives its power from a return springwhich rocks `a bell crank lever which moves the bail plunger upward toperform its working operation by means of the usual bail bar to select apull bar lever determined by the position of the code bars. Therefore,by the present invention, little additional load is placed on the bellcrank return spring inasmuch as both the letters and figures pull barsnow perform only a light tripping operation as the57 move upward toactuate their associated ,type levers to perform the printingoperations.

invention a very eflicient shift mechanism for platen carriages isemployed and by the provision of separate latching levers and separatesprings, the independent operation of the shift mechanism, from oneposition to another, is provided for. The use of separate springs makesit possible to adjust each spring individually Without the adjustedspring having any effect upon the shifting operation with which it isnot connected.

Various changes may be made in the design of the construction describedin the specification without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a platen shifting mechanism, a frame, a platen carriage slidablymovable on said frame to an upper or lower case position, spring meansfor driving said carriage to its upper case position, a secondindependently acting spring means to drive said carriage to its lowercase position,

and means to simultaneously reset each of said spring means for furthershifting operations.

2. In a platen shifting mechanism, a mounting, a platen movable on saidmounting to diierent case positions, driving means for driving saidplaten to one case position, a second driving means to drive said platento its other case position, and means to simultaneously reset each ofsaid driving means for further shifting operations.

3. In a platen shifting device, a mounting, a platen movable on saidmounting to different operating positions, driving means for drivingsaid platen to one position, means restraining said driving means fromactuation, means to release said restraining means to thereby releasesaid driving means to move said platen to one operating position, asecond driving means for driving said platen to a secondoperating'position, means restraining said second driving means fromactuation, means to release said second mentioned restraining means tocause said second driving means to move said platen to a secondoperating position, and means to reset both of said driving means forfurther shifting operations.

4. In telegraph printing apparatus, a bail plunger operable on itsworking stroke to an upper position and operable on its idle stroke to alower position, a platen shifting mechanism comprising a frame, a platencarriage slidably mounted on said frame and movable to an upper or lowercase position, spring means for driving said carriage to its upper caseposition, a second independently acting spring means to drive saidcarriage to its lower case position, resetting means for each of saidspring means, and means connected with said bail plunger'to operate saidresetting means on the downward or idle stroke of said bail plunger.

5. In a platen shifting mechanism, a frame, a platen carriage shiftableon said frame, spring means for shifting said carriage to an upper caseposition,`a second spring means for shifting said carriage to a lowercase position, means to hold said carriage in a lower case positionagainst the iniiuence of said iirst mentioned spring means, means torelease said holding means to cause actuation of said first mentionedspring means to thereby shift said carriage to an upper oase position,means restraining said second spring means from operation, means torelease said restraining means to cause said second mentioned springmeans to shift said carriage to a lower case position, and means toreset both spring means for further shifting operations.

1 6. In a platen shifting mechanism, a mounting, a platen carriagemovable on said mounting to a front and rear position, a pivotable leverin the path of but out of contact with said platen carriage, a springurging said pivotable lever to pivot, holding means for said pivotablelever, means to release said holding means to enable said pivotablelever to pivot under the influence of said spring and contact saidplaten carriage to drive said platen carriage to its rear position,means for latching said platen carriage in its rear position, and meansto stop the movement of said pivotable lever before said platen carriagereaches its latching position to enable said platen carriage to travelthe last portion of its movement under momentum.

'7.' In a platen shifting mechanism, a mounting, a platen carriagemovable on said mounting to an upper and lower case position, latchingmeans for holding said platen carriage in its lower case position,spring means for driving said platen carriage to its upper caseposition, means to release said latching means to enable said platencarriage to move to its upper case position under the influence of saidspring means, a pivotable lever in the path of but out of contact withsaid platen carriage, a second spring means lurging said pivotable leverto pivot, holding means for said pivotable lever, and means to releasesaid holding means to enable said pivotable lever to pivot under the`influence of said second spring means and contact said platen carriageto drive said platen carriage to its lower case position.

8. In a platen shifting mechanism, a mounting, a platen carriage movableon said mounting to an upper and lower case position, latching means forholding said platen carriage in its lower case position, spring meansfor driving said platen carriage to its upper case position, means torelease said latching means to enable said platen carriage to move toits upper case position under the iniluence of said spring means, apivotable lever in the path of but out of contact with said platencarriage, said pivotable lever being assoi ciated with said springmeans, a second spring means urging said pivotable lever to pivot,holding means for said pivotable lever, means to release said holdingmeans to enable said pivotable lever to pivot under the iniiuence ofsaid second spring means and contact said platen carriage to drive saidplaten carriage to its lower case position, and means to return saidpivotable lever to its original position to reset both of said springmeans for further shifting operations.

9. In a platen shifting mechanism, a mounting, a platen carriage movableon said mounting to an upper and lower case position, latching means forholding said platen carriage in its lower case position, spring meansfor driving said platen carriage to its upper case position, means torelease said latching means to enable said platen carriage to move toits upper case position under the inuence of said spring means, apivotable lever in the path of but out of contact with said platencarriage, said pivotable lever being associatedV with said spring means,a second spring means urging said pivotable lever to pivot, holdingmeans for said pivotable lever, means to release said holding means toenable said pivotable lever to pivot under the iniiuence of said secondspring means and Contact said platen carriage to drive said platencarriage to its lower case position, a printing bail plunger, resettingmeans for each of said spring means, and means connected with said bailplunger to actuate said resetting means to return said pivotable leverto its original position and distend each of said spring means forfurther shifting operations.

10. In a platen shifting mechanism, a mounting, a platen carriageshiftable on said mounting to an upper and lower case position, meansnormally out of contact with said platen carriage for moving said platencarriage to one of its case positions, means to actuate said rstmentioned means to cause said first mentioned means to contact with saidplaten carriage and drive it to a case position, and means to stop theactuation of said first mentioned means to cause it to be free fromcontact with said platen carriage to enable said platen carriage totravel a portion of its movement under momentum.

11. In a platen shifting device, a mounting, a platen movable on saidmounting to different operating positions, driving means for drivingsaid carriage to one position, means restraining said driving means fromactuation, means to release said restraining means to thereby releasesaid driving means to move said platen to one operating position, asecond driving means for driving said carriage to a second operatingposition, means restraining said second driving means from actuation,means to release said second mentioned restraining means to cause saidsecond driving means to move said platen to a second operating position,means to reset both of said driving means for further shiftingoperations, a bail plunger having a working and an idle stroke, andmeans connected with said plunger to operate said resetting means on theidle stroke of said bail plunger.

12. In a shifting mechanism, a frame, a member shiftable on said frame,shifting means to shift said member to one position on said frame, asecond independently acting shifting means to shift said member to asecond position on said frame, and means to simultaneously conditionboth of said shifting means for further shifting said member to oneposition on said frame, a second independently acting spring means toshift said member to a second position on said frame, and means tosimultaneously condition both of said spring means for further shiftingoperations.

14. In a platen shifting device, a mounting, a platen movable on saidmounting to different ,operating positions, driving means for drivingsaid platen to one position, a latching lever for preventing themovement of said driving means, a bail plunger, means on said bailplunger also preventing the movement of said driving means while saidbail plunger is in its lower position, a pull bar for unlatching saidlatching lever, means to operate said bail plunger to its upperposition, and means to actuate said pull bar to thereby release saiddriving means to shift said platen to its one position.

15. In a telegraph printer, signal responsive means, power driven means,a platen, platen shift and unshift means comprising individualelongatable springs, means associated with said power driven means tostore power in both said springs simultaneously, trigger meansindividual to said shift and unshift means to retain said shifting meansindependently in power stored condition, and means controlled by saidsignal responsive means to operate either of said trigger means torelease said respective springs for operation to shift said platen toits other operating position.

16. In a platen shifting mechanism, a mounting, a platen movable on saidmounting to dif-l ferent case positions, an elongatable springassociated with said platen for driving said platen to one caseposition, a second independently acting elongatable spring associatedwith said platen for driving said platen to its other case position, asingle power driven means for conditioning both said springs foroperation, and selectable means for separately releasing said springsfor driving said platen to its respective case position.

ROSS A. LAKE.

